Laobanonaprayer rolled to victory over Jill’s a Hot Mess in Sunday’s $250,000 NYSS Fifth Avenue S. at Aqueduct, giving Laoban the one-two finishers in the seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies.
Sunday’s filly exacta pushed Laoban into second on the 2020 First-Crop sire list, with progeny earnings over $1.5 million. He is the only top-10 sire on the list whose bred-on fee was under $10,000.
Laobanonaprayer, who had won the Maid of the Mist S. by a half-dozen lengths on Oct. 24, performed even better on Sunday. After stalking the pace of Jill’s a Hot Mess for five furlongs, she took over willingly in upper stretch, then drew off to win by eight lengths. Jill’s a Hot Mess was 3 1/2-lengths clear of the rest of the field.
“I knew we came prepared. I was questioning the distance, but I knew she could handle it,” said winning trainer and owner Daniel Velazquez. “I think she can actually go a mile and an eighth. I’m really looking forward to testing her against open company. That’s where we’ll really know where she is. It’s fun to compete in these stakes, but we’ve got to test her against open company.”
The winner was bred by Christina Deronda. The filly is now 2-1-1 in four starts and has earned $232,400, proving to be a bargain for her purchase price of $15,000 at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale.
